Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 12:8982643251359389.
doi: 10.1177/08982643251359389. Online ahead of print.

Disability Among Middle Aged and Older Immigrants: Differences by Citizenship, English Proficiency, and Years in United States

Shane D Burns  1 , Elizabeth H Baker  2 , Connor M Sheehan  3 , Kyriakos S Markides  4
Affiliations

Disability Among Middle Aged and Older Immigrants: Differences by Citizenship, English Proficiency, and Years in United States

Shane D Burns et al. J Aging Health. .

Abstract

ObjectivesUnited States (U.S.) immigrants are rapidly aging, although little is known on how acculturation influences their disability risk.MethodsWe pooled 2000-2018 data (n = 50,075) from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to examine odds of activities of daily living (ADL) disability among middle aged (40-64) and older (65+) immigrants based on three acculturation indicators while accounting for various measures.ResultsAmong middle aged immigrants, citizenship was associated with higher odds of ADL disability after accounting for socioeconomic factors. Among both middle aged and older immigrants, English proficiency was associated with lower odds of ADL disability until accounting for socioeconomic factors. Among older immigrants, lower ADL disability odds were observed among those with English proficiency and greater U.S. duration.DiscussionAcculturation had heterogenous influences on ADL disability risk among aging U.S. immigrants, while the interplay of these mechanisms shaped varied outcomes.

Keywords: acculturation; activities of daily living; disablement process; life course; socioeconomic factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Adjusted Predicted Probabilities of Reporting Acitivies of Daily Living (ADL) Disability by English Proficiency and Years in United States Among Older Immigrants Note: Compared to Not English Proficient & <15 Years in U.S. = * p<0.05
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Abraído-Lanza AF, Echeverría SE, & Flórez KR (2016). Latino Immigrants, Acculturation, and Health: Promising New Directions in Research. Annual Review of Public Health, 37(1), 219–236. 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032315-021545 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Acevedo-Garcia D, Bates LM, Osypuk TL, & McArdle N (2010). The effect of immigrant generation and duration on self-rated health among US adults 2003–2007. Social Science & Medicine, 71(6), 1161–1172. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.05.034 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alegría M, Sribney W, Woo M, Torres M, & Guarnaccia P (2007). Looking Beyond Nativity: The Relation of Age of Immigration, Length of Residence, and Birth Cohorts to the Risk of Onset of Psychiatric Disorders for Latinos. Research in Human Development, 4(1–2), 19–47. 10.1080/15427600701480980 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Allen L, & Cummings J (2016). Emergency Department Use Among Hispanic Adults: The Role of Acculturation. Medical Care, 54(5), 449–456. 10.1097/MLR.0000000000000511 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Allison PD (2009). Missing Data. In The SAGE Handbook of Quantitative Methods in Psychology. SAGE Publications Ltd. 10.4135/9780857020994 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources